‘He took everything seriously, except himself.’

It’s a brisk winter night outside Robbie’s Restaurant, where more than 100 of Bill Hall’s closest friends and family have gathered in his memory.

By the front window overlooking the Old State Capitol, a jazz band plays the smooth, cool sounds he adored – the meaty bass, slick guitar, swinging drums, wailing sax and blazing trumpet playing just loud enough to overcome the laughter and nostalgic conversations that fill the room as a photo collage of his smiling face looks on. It seems more like a party than a memorial, but one gets the feeling Hall would have wanted it that way.

William G. Hall passed away Dec. 3, 2009 – 20 days before his 64th birthday – of complications from a stroke he suffered while golfing with friends. He was a public administrator, teacher and all-around renaissance man, say the numerous people who spoke fondly of Hall at his jazzthemed memorial. Born in Springfield in 1945, Hall lived his entire life here, positively influencing friends, family and total strangers in ways he may never have known.

“Bill really enjoyed life,” says longtime friend and former coworker Phil Gonet. “He loved to have fun, and he loved people. He was a genuinely nice guy, always made you feel comfortable.”

So many and so varied are Hall’s accomplishments and interests that his résumé reads like that of three people combined. He was involved in so many things that his son, Andy Hall, remarks, “Frankly, I don’t know where he found the time.”

“He was interested in everything, and he took everything seriously except himself,” Andy says.

After serving three years in the Army, Bill Hall taught at Springfield’s now-defunct City Day School, then joined the staff of the Illinois House Republicans in 1979, where he met Gonet.

“He was a good friend,” Gonet says. “He was always eager to help, and he knew so much about so many things. That really influenced me to be the same way.”

Hall went on to serve in many state agencies, even becoming director of the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission from 1991 to 1999, before leaving the state’s employ to try his hand at city government. He headed the city’s Office of Budget and Management under former Mayor Karen Hasara until he retired in 2003, then returned in 2008 when appointed to Mayor Tim Davlin’s Blue Ribbon Committee tasked with studying the city’s finances.

Norm Sims, another longtime friend of Hall, met Hall while both men were working for the city, waiting for a city meeting to begin.

“We got into a conversation, I couldn’t tell you why to this day, on physics,” Sims recalls. “And we just sort of hit it off from that point, so we started getting together to talk about all kinds of things, because Bill was not only very intelligent, he was also very curious.”

Hall and Sims would later teach a class on public administration together at the University of Illinois-Springfield, and Sims recounts how Hall announced – 10 seconds before the first class period – that he wanted to change the lesson plan.

“He says, ‘I think I’m going to do something different. I think I’m going to talk about fractal geometry and chaos theory,’ ” Sims says with a laugh. “He did it, and he made it relevant. That was not uncommon for Bill.”

Outside of work, Hall had several hobbies that revealed not only his intelligence and creativity, but his drive to do his best. Andy Hall describes his father as an avid woodworker, golfer, genealogist, audiophile and amateur physicist.

“Dad had a slew of interests, all of which he took very seriously,” Andy says. “I can’t picture him ever dismissing anything as not worth finding out more about, whether it involved history or technology or science or sports or politics.”

Phil Gonet recalls how Hall picked up golf in the ’90s and quickly became a skilled player.

“I’ve been golfing since I was six, and he’d only been playing for a few years,” Gonet says, “I usually beat him, but he started beating me toward the end there. For someone who hadn’t played very long, he did very well. He wanted every shot to be perfect.”

Gonet says what he admired most about Hall was his love for his twin sons, Andy and Nick.

“I can see a lot of Bill’s traits in his boys,” Gonet says. “They have his intellect and curiosity, his independence. He was really proud of them.”

Hall’s ex-wife, Imogene “Jeff” Hall, says his curiosity and intelligence served as guideposts for the twins.

“Back when we didn’t know what computers were, Bill was investigating them,” she says. “Our sons learned everything from him. Now they’re in computer work, and I think it’s because Bill started them on that path. He was so proud of them.”

The night of Hall’s memorial, between the jazz solos and the sharing of funny anecdotes, four different people stood before the crowd and said what everyone else seemed to be thinking.

“I’ve lost my best friend,” they each said.

“Bill was my best friend.”

— Patrick Yeagle